Nude, pregnant Sienna Miller poses for portrait

Sienna Miller posed naked when she was pregnant. Photo / AFP

A painting of a heavily pregnant Sienna Miller has been unveiled in a new exhibition.

Artist Jonathan Yeo said the work, which is painted in oils, showed the actress in a "moment of transition between youth and parenthood''.

Miller posed for him only weeks before she gave birth to her daughter, Marlowe, earlier this year.

The painting has gone on show in an exhibition in Berlin, called (I've Got You) Under My Skin, and Yeo said he deliberately chose not to show it in the UK first.

The 41-year-old, who has also painted stars including Nicole Kidman and Dennis Hopper, said: "For me it seemed both appropriate and necessary to exhibit these images of the flesh in Germany: a country with a more relaxed attitude to the corporeal, where the exposed body is not automatically sexualised or considered taboo. In Britain by contrast, the media and public tend to sensationalise the body, and are often unable to view it without scandal.''

Yeo will put on a solo show at the National Portrait Gallery, in central London, next year.

Writing in the exhibition catalogue, he said: "It has been 22 years since a pregnant Demi Moore caused uproar by posing for Annie Leibovitz on the cover of Vanity Fair. In that time society has become almost completely desensitised to the daily exposure to people who have surgically distorted their appearance for artificial reasons. Yet certain sections of society are still uncomfortable with the appearance of pregnancy and images of naked expectant mothers are rarely seen.

"The power of the painting partly lies in the fact that Sienna is widely regarded as being one of the most naturally beautiful actresses in the world as well as being a fashion icon to a generation of girls. It is a tribute to her courage and self-confidence that she agreed to sit for this. I can think of many figures whose public currency in part revolves around their appearance, who would prefer to hide themselves away for nine months.

"But I also hope this painting also captures some of that moment of transition between youth and parenthood - a combination of excitement and trepidation and vulnerability - which is an inevitable part of the cycle of life.''

- PAA